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MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) - Washington Township firefighter Joe Tadijanac energetically demonstrated how he can sit down on a chair with his electronic prosthetic legs, get down on the floor and get back up.

The computer sensors in his legs move like real knees, his wife Andrea said, as Joe positioned himself on the floor.

Tadijanac, who lost both his legs while fighting a fire in June 2012, has a new sense of freedom, having learned more productive ways of living at a three-day boot camp this month in Oklahoma City.

Tadijanac lost both legs in an accident while responding to a June 24 fire at 3695 St. James Road in Troy Township. He was helping to pump water from one tanker to another. He was trapped between the trucks when one of them rolled.

There were people from all over the world, including military service members injured in Afghanistan, children who had suffered from meningitis and lost their limbs and a man named Joel from Puerto Rico who came to the United States by himself with only what Joe called his “stubbys” and no wheelchair.

“It’s crazy amazing what these people do,” Andrea said. “I had a lot of anger toward the situation, like why him? I looked at it as a disability. He can’t do anything. This is going to ruin the rest of his life. But being around all those people and seeing what they can do, I’ve finally let go of all that anger. It’s a blessing to me to be able to be with him and watch him be able to inspire others like they inspired him.”

Andrea said the workshop allowed her and others to be OK with saying no to their loved one.

“You can do this. You don’t need me even though it’s easier for me to do it,” she said. “A lot of our training was emotional. It’s taken a lot of time for me not to be so mama bear.”

Joe said he also learned ways to fall safely. He fell in the Oklahoma airport going through security.

“He got up and walked into the body scan machine with his electronic legs, and they didn’t know he couldn’t see,” his wife said. “They didn’t tell him when you walk up you stand on the platform and then it goes down a small ramp. He’s been taught how to fall. It was kind of funny because we are used to it. A swarm of agents were there, and I said just let him go, he’s fine,” she said.

“Other people were freaking out,” she added as Joe laughed. “I’m just so proud of him.”

Thanks to the training, Joe can now stand in one place because he is able to find his center of gravity and balance without moving.

He walked in his stubbys on a grassy hill and carried a chair above his head during training. He also got a lot of tips from classmates about how to put his legs on more easily.

Joe’s ultimate goal, when the sensors are adjusted, is to stand without the assistance of devices, such as crutch-like poles.